When Chase Elliott Escaped Sanction for Flipping Kyle Busch the Bird in 2020 at Darlington

Who would have thought that ‘Golden Boy’ Chase Elliott had a bit of a dark side? Kyle Busch certainly found that out the hard way in 2020 at the Darlington Raceway.

For the sake of context, the two of them collided late in the race, and Elliott came off as the loser. Naturally, a fuming Elliott stormed up the track and flipped the bird at Kyle Busch as he drove by.

Under normal circumstances, such an offense would warrant a punishment or at least a fine. First and foremost, he performed an obscene gesture in full view of the cameras. Secondly, he walked onto the edge of the track while cars were still running on it.

Surprisingly, NASCAR elected to not discipline the Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Chase Elliott Once Gave a Big F*** You to Kyle Busch & Had Zero Regrets: “I Thought It Was Warranted, and He Was Deserving”

What happened between Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch?

Of course, Elliott had every right to be mad, because he could have won the Cup race at Darlington. With 28 laps to go, the #9 driver had just overtaken Busch around the outside. Unfortunately, his left rear got hooked by the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s right front which spun him out.

Protocol said that he was supposed to head straight for the ambulance and head to the infield medical center. Instead, he chose to stand on the edge of the track and show Busch the middle finger.

Despite all of that, NASCAR officials decided to just let him go without any sanctions. At least Kyle Busch was willing to take responsibility for the incident during post-race interviews.

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He even apologized to the Hendrick Motorsports driver and his team for the incident. Incidentally, the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver finished the race in 2nd place.

When Elliott spoke about the gesture though, he declared that Busch deserved it. However, a few others, like Kevin Harvick observed that Kyle Busch simply misjudged his lines. Even the Hendrick Motorsports team admitted that it was an accident.